The German Bach and Sons
Premiers in Austria
Jeannine and David Jordan
The Stadtpfarrkirche Sts. Peter und Paul of Ried, Austria was the stunning location for the world premier of our German production of Bach and Sons. This Baroque church with its famous Schwanthaler altar, ornate decoration, and fine Mathis organ was the perfect complement to the music and story of Johann Sebastian Bach and his family.
We presented Bach and Sons as part of the Ried "inn4tler sommer" cultural festival--a series of concerts, theater, and art events held throughout the Upper Austria region during the summer months. Renate Pumberger, organist of the Stadtpfarrkirche, and Bernhard Schneider, conductor of the Kantorei der Stadtpfarre Ried, were our enthusiastic and generous hosts for the event.
Thanks to the expert translation of the show's narration to German and patient coaching by German professor Ulla Mundill, I was able to present the story of JS Bach and his family as told by the women in their lives in German.
With the story told in German, the stunning visuals, the live camera projections to a superb screen, and the incredible organ music soaring through the Baroque church, the audience was spellbound and in awe of our world premier presentation of our German Bach and Sons performance. It was a thrilling day for us!
*****
To discover more of Bach and Sons
please visit our new website at
www.bachandsons.com
To schedule a performance of Bach and Sons
in your community,
please contact Jeannine at
jeannine@bachandsons.com
The Salzburg Sojourn
Jeannine and David Jordan
Following our Bach and Sons performance in Ried, we were entertained for two lovely days in the music city of Salzburg, Austria by Hildegund Walterskirchen, music history and English literature professor at the University of Portland Salzburg Center, and her husband, Dr. Gerhard Walterskirchen, musicologist and author of Salzburger Musikgeschichte. Lively conversationalists and tremendous hosts, the Walterskirchens shared their love of Salzburg with us.
The highlight of our visit was hearing a superbly performed Michael Haydn Mass at St. Peter's Church during a Sunday morning worship service. The space seemed to come alive as the music floated through this gorgeous Baroque church.
The Wittenberg Week
Jeannine and David Jordan
Our performance tour continued in the city of Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany. To quote the travel brochures: This sleepy little town in rural eastern Germany doesn't look like the center of a revolution. But the events that played out here in the 16th Century shook the foundations of Christendom.
It was here in Wittenberg, Germany, that Martin Luther lived and preached, and on October 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church. The Protestant Reformation had begun.
Wittenberg is in the midst of a decade long celebration to commemorate Luther's bold act which started the Reformation. This year, 2012, the theme of the celebration is "Reformation and Music." The theme was chosen not only be a musical tribute to the eloquent poet and reformer Luther, but also a reminder of the rich treasure of Protestant church music. With that theme in mind, I chose to design the programs I played in Wittenberg around the texts and hymn tunes of Martin Luther.
The first of two concerts in Wittenberg was played on the Ladegast organ at the Schlosskirche (the church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door). Ringing the tower of the Schlosskirche high above the city are the words to Luther's most famous hymn, "Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott." It is with this hymn tune that I framed the concert with settings by Jan Bender and Max Reger. Completing the concert were contemporary settings of other Luther chorales.
The second concert of the week was performed at the Stadtkirche, the church where Luther often preached, was married, and his children were baptized. Playing the Sauer organ, I continued the theme of music based on Luther chorales with the Fantasia super Komm Heiliger Geist" by JS Bach as the centerpiece. Chorale settings by other Baroque composers completed the program.
The thrill of performing settings of Luther's chorales in the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche during the Reformation and Music Year of the Luther Decade was enormous.
We stayed in a lovely apartment at the 500 year old University located on the Collegienstrasse--the main walking street through the center of the old city--just minutes away from the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche. Strolling down this street lined with 16th century pastel colored buildings, eating a gelato, and savoring the ambiance of the city made for an unforgettable week in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
The Many Organs of Bad Belzig
A grand time was had by all in the quaint medieval village of Bad Belzig, Germany. The St. Marienkirche, a Romanesque church from the late 13th century, is the home of a burgeoning organ museum started by the Kantor and Music Director, Winfried Kuntz.
Herr Kuntz has collected five organs to date with three currently playable. Each instrument is distinct in its sound, disposition, action, and beauty.
It was on these three instruments that I played a program of music by JS Bach and his sons--music appropriate for small exquisite organs.
To discover the details of these three gems, please click here to visit our Pro-Motion Music Blog.
The Dornheim Wedding Church
Jeannine and David Jordan
On October 17, 1707, Johann Sebastian Bach married Maria Barbara Bach in a ceremony attended by family and friends in the village church in Dornheim, Germany. Today, St. Bartholomaeusenkirche is better known as the "Bach Wedding Church" and has been lovingly restored by the community.
The program I chose for this concert was a chronological sampling of the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach starting with his earliest pieces and culminating with his great St. Anne Fugue. What a joy to play Bach's music in the church where he Maria Barbara were married over 300 years ago!
Our Side Trips to Wechmar and Erfurt
Our gracious and generous hosts in Dornheim, Jurgen and Rosemarie Frey, made sure that we not only thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Dornheim, but that we also visited the historic village of Wechmar and the lovely city of Erfurt. In Wechmar, we saw the bakery where JS Bach's Great-Great-Grandfather was a baker and a player of the lute. From that time forward for the next 450 years, the name Bach was synonymous with the word musician.
The Veit Bach Museum in Wechmar
Jurgen Frey ed us on a marvelous evening walking tour of the historic city of Erfurt . With its medieval city center. towering spires of the Mariendom and Severikirche, the Kraemerbruecke of 1325, and the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther lived in 1505, it was a memory-making evening.
The organ of the Severikirche
The Kraemerbruecke
A Silbermann Organ in Freiberg
The St. Petrikirche in Freiberg is the home to one of four surviving organs in the city by master organ builder, Gottfried Silbermann. This magnificent organ, built in 1735, was completely restored to Silbermann specifications in 2007.
The music I chose to perform on this concert was music that actually could have been played on this Silbermann organ when it was new in 1735 -- pieces by Scheidt, Bruhns, Telemann, and JS Bach.
The church has the most perfect 7 second reverberation I have ever heard. The glorious sounds of the final E-Flat chord of Bach's St. Anne fugue simply drifted into space filling every inch of this awesome church.
An amazing conclusion to our
2012 performance tour!
The German Bach and Sons
Premiers in Austria
Jeannine and David Jordan
The Stadtpfarrkirche Sts. Peter und Paul of Ried, Austria was the stunning location for the world premier of our German production of Bach and Sons. This Baroque church with its famous Schwanthaler altar, ornate decoration, and fine Mathis organ was the perfect complement to the music and story of Johann Sebastian Bach and his family.
We presented Bach and Sons as part of the Ried "inn4tler sommer" cultural festival--a series of concerts, theater, and art events held throughout the Upper Austria region during the summer months. Renate Pumberger, organist of the Stadtpfarrkirche, and Bernhard Schneider, conductor of the Kantorei der Stadtpfarre Ried, were our enthusiastic and generous hosts for the event.
Thanks to the expert translation of the show's narration to German and patient coaching by German professor Ulla Mundill, I was able to present the story of JS Bach and his family as told by the women in their lives in German.
With the story told in German, the stunning visuals, the live camera projections to a superb screen, and the incredible organ music soaring through the Baroque church, the audience was spellbound and in awe of our world premier presentation of our German Bach and Sons performance. It was a thrilling day for us!
*****
To discover more of Bach and Sons
please visit our new website at
www.bachandsons.com
To schedule a performance of Bach and Sons
in your community,
please contact Jeannine at
jeannine@bachandsons.com
The Salzburg Sojourn
Jeannine and David Jordan
Following our Bach and Sons performance in Ried, we were entertained for two lovely days in the music city of Salzburg, Austria by Hildegund Walterskirchen, music history and English literature professor at the University of Portland Salzburg Center, and her husband, Dr. Gerhard Walterskirchen, musicologist and author of Salzburger Musikgeschichte. Lively conversationalists and tremendous hosts, the Walterskirchens shared their love of Salzburg with us.
The highlight of our visit was hearing a superbly performed Michael Haydn Mass at St. Peter's Church during a Sunday morning worship service. The space seemed to come alive as the music floated through this gorgeous Baroque church.
The Wittenberg Week
Jeannine and David Jordan
Our performance tour continued in the city of Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany. To quote the travel brochures: This sleepy little town in rural eastern Germany doesn't look like the center of a revolution. But the events that played out here in the 16th Century shook the foundations of Christendom.
It was here in Wittenberg, Germany, that Martin Luther lived and preached, and on October 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church. The Protestant Reformation had begun.
Wittenberg is in the midst of a decade long celebration to commemorate Luther's bold act which started the Reformation. This year, 2012, the theme of the celebration is "Reformation and Music." The theme was chosen not only be a musical tribute to the eloquent poet and reformer Luther, but also a reminder of the rich treasure of Protestant church music. With that theme in mind, I chose to design the programs I played in Wittenberg around the texts and hymn tunes of Martin Luther.
The first of two concerts in Wittenberg was played on the Ladegast organ at the Schlosskirche (the church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door). Ringing the tower of the Schlosskirche high above the city are the words to Luther's most famous hymn, "Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott." It is with this hymn tune that I framed the concert with settings by Jan Bender and Max Reger. Completing the concert were contemporary settings of other Luther chorales.
The second concert of the week was performed at the Stadtkirche, the church where Luther often preached, was married, and his children were baptized. Playing the Sauer organ, I continued the theme of music based on Luther chorales with the Fantasia super Komm Heiliger Geist" by JS Bach as the centerpiece. Chorale settings by other Baroque composers completed the program.
The thrill of performing settings of Luther's chorales in the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche during the Reformation and Music Year of the Luther Decade was enormous.
We stayed in a lovely apartment at the 500 year old University located on the Collegienstrasse--the main walking street through the center of the old city--just minutes away from the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche. Strolling down this street lined with 16th century pastel colored buildings, eating a gelato, and savoring the ambiance of the city made for an unforgettable week in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
The Many Organs of Bad Belzig
A grand time was had by all in the quaint medieval village of Bad Belzig, Germany. The St. Marienkirche, a Romanesque church from the late 13th century, is the home of a burgeoning organ museum started by the Kantor and Music Director, Winfried Kuntz.
Herr Kuntz has collected five organs to date with three currently playable. Each instrument is distinct in its sound, disposition, action, and beauty.
It was on these three instruments that I played a program of music by JS Bach and his sons--music appropriate for small exquisite organs.
To discover the details of these three gems, please click here to visit our Pro-Motion Music Blog.
The Dornheim Wedding Church
Jeannine and David Jordan
On October 17, 1707, Johann Sebastian Bach married Maria Barbara Bach in a ceremony attended by family and friends in the village church in Dornheim, Germany. Today, St. Bartholomaeusenkirche is better known as the "Bach Wedding Church" and has been lovingly restored by the community.
The program I chose for this concert was a chronological sampling of the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach starting with his earliest pieces and culminating with his great St. Anne Fugue. What a joy to play Bach's music in the church where he Maria Barbara were married over 300 years ago!
Our Side Trips to Wechmar and Erfurt
Our gracious and generous hosts in Dornheim, Jurgen and Rosemarie Frey, made sure that we not only thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Dornheim, but that we also visited the historic village of Wechmar and the lovely city of Erfurt. In Wechmar, we saw the bakery where JS Bach's Great-Great-Grandfather was a baker and a player of the lute. From that time forward for the next 450 years, the name Bach was synonymous with the word musician.
The Veit Bach Museum in Wechmar
Jurgen Frey ed us on a marvelous evening walking tour of the historic city of Erfurt . With its medieval city center. towering spires of the Mariendom and Severikirche, the Kraemerbruecke of 1325, and the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther lived in 1505, it was a memory-making evening.
The organ of the Severikirche The Kraemerbruecke
A Silbermann Organ in Freiberg
The St. Petrikirche in Freiberg is the home to one of four surviving organs in the city by master organ builder, Gottfried Silbermann. This magnificent organ, built in 1735, was completely restored to Silbermann specifications in 2007.
The music I chose to perform on this concert was music that actually could have been played on this Silbermann organ when it was new in 1735 -- pieces by Scheidt, Bruhns, Telemann, and JS Bach.
The church has the most perfect 7 second reverberation I have ever heard. The glorious sounds of the final E-Flat chord of Bach's St. Anne fugue simply drifted into space filling every inch of this awesome church.
An amazing conclusion to our
2012 performance tour!
Premiers in Austria
Jeannine and David Jordan
The Stadtpfarrkirche Sts. Peter und Paul of Ried, Austria was the stunning location for the world premier of our German production of Bach and Sons. This Baroque church with its famous Schwanthaler altar, ornate decoration, and fine Mathis organ was the perfect complement to the music and story of Johann Sebastian Bach and his family.
We presented Bach and Sons as part of the Ried "inn4tler sommer" cultural festival--a series of concerts, theater, and art events held throughout the Upper Austria region during the summer months. Renate Pumberger, organist of the Stadtpfarrkirche, and Bernhard Schneider, conductor of the Kantorei der Stadtpfarre Ried, were our enthusiastic and generous hosts for the event.
Thanks to the expert translation of the show's narration to German and patient coaching by German professor Ulla Mundill, I was able to present the story of JS Bach and his family as told by the women in their lives in German.
With the story told in German, the stunning visuals, the live camera projections to a superb screen, and the incredible organ music soaring through the Baroque church, the audience was spellbound and in awe of our world premier presentation of our German Bach and Sons performance. It was a thrilling day for us!
*****
To discover more of Bach and Sons
please visit our new website at
www.bachandsons.com
To schedule a performance of Bach and Sons
in your community,
please contact Jeannine at
jeannine@bachandsons.com
The Salzburg Sojourn
Jeannine and David Jordan
Following our Bach and Sons performance in Ried, we were entertained for two lovely days in the music city of Salzburg, Austria by Hildegund Walterskirchen, music history and English literature professor at the University of Portland Salzburg Center, and her husband, Dr. Gerhard Walterskirchen, musicologist and author of Salzburger Musikgeschichte. Lively conversationalists and tremendous hosts, the Walterskirchens shared their love of Salzburg with us.
The highlight of our visit was hearing a superbly performed Michael Haydn Mass at St. Peter's Church during a Sunday morning worship service. The space seemed to come alive as the music floated through this gorgeous Baroque church.
The Wittenberg Week
Jeannine and David Jordan
Our performance tour continued in the city of Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany. To quote the travel brochures: This sleepy little town in rural eastern Germany doesn't look like the center of a revolution. But the events that played out here in the 16th Century shook the foundations of Christendom.
It was here in Wittenberg, Germany, that Martin Luther lived and preached, and on October 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church. The Protestant Reformation had begun.
Wittenberg is in the midst of a decade long celebration to commemorate Luther's bold act which started the Reformation. This year, 2012, the theme of the celebration is "Reformation and Music." The theme was chosen not only be a musical tribute to the eloquent poet and reformer Luther, but also a reminder of the rich treasure of Protestant church music. With that theme in mind, I chose to design the programs I played in Wittenberg around the texts and hymn tunes of Martin Luther.
The first of two concerts in Wittenberg was played on the Ladegast organ at the Schlosskirche (the church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door). Ringing the tower of the Schlosskirche high above the city are the words to Luther's most famous hymn, "Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott." It is with this hymn tune that I framed the concert with settings by Jan Bender and Max Reger. Completing the concert were contemporary settings of other Luther chorales.
The second concert of the week was performed at the Stadtkirche, the church where Luther often preached, was married, and his children were baptized. Playing the Sauer organ, I continued the theme of music based on Luther chorales with the Fantasia super Komm Heiliger Geist" by JS Bach as the centerpiece. Chorale settings by other Baroque composers completed the program.
The thrill of performing settings of Luther's chorales in the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche during the Reformation and Music Year of the Luther Decade was enormous.
We stayed in a lovely apartment at the 500 year old University located on the Collegienstrasse--the main walking street through the center of the old city--just minutes away from the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche. Strolling down this street lined with 16th century pastel colored buildings, eating a gelato, and savoring the ambiance of the city made for an unforgettable week in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
The Many Organs of Bad Belzig
A grand time was had by all in the quaint medieval village of Bad Belzig, Germany. The St. Marienkirche, a Romanesque church from the late 13th century, is the home of a burgeoning organ museum started by the Kantor and Music Director, Winfried Kuntz.
Herr Kuntz has collected five organs to date with three currently playable. Each instrument is distinct in its sound, disposition, action, and beauty.
It was on these three instruments that I played a program of music by JS Bach and his sons--music appropriate for small exquisite organs.
To discover the details of these three gems, please click here to visit our Pro-Motion Music Blog.
The Dornheim Wedding Church
Jeannine and David Jordan
On October 17, 1707, Johann Sebastian Bach married Maria Barbara Bach in a ceremony attended by family and friends in the village church in Dornheim, Germany. Today, St. Bartholomaeusenkirche is better known as the "Bach Wedding Church" and has been lovingly restored by the community.
The program I chose for this concert was a chronological sampling of the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach starting with his earliest pieces and culminating with his great St. Anne Fugue. What a joy to play Bach's music in the church where he Maria Barbara were married over 300 years ago!
Our Side Trips to Wechmar and Erfurt
Our gracious and generous hosts in Dornheim, Jurgen and Rosemarie Frey, made sure that we not only thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Dornheim, but that we also visited the historic village of Wechmar and the lovely city of Erfurt. In Wechmar, we saw the bakery where JS Bach's Great-Great-Grandfather was a baker and a player of the lute. From that time forward for the next 450 years, the name Bach was synonymous with the word musician.
The Veit Bach Museum in Wechmar
Jurgen Frey ed us on a marvelous evening walking tour of the historic city of Erfurt . With its medieval city center. towering spires of the Mariendom and Severikirche, the Kraemerbruecke of 1325, and the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther lived in 1505, it was a memory-making evening.
The organ of the Severikirche
The Kraemerbruecke
A Silbermann Organ in Freiberg
The St. Petrikirche in Freiberg is the home to one of four surviving organs in the city by master organ builder, Gottfried Silbermann. This magnificent organ, built in 1735, was completely restored to Silbermann specifications in 2007.
The music I chose to perform on this concert was music that actually could have been played on this Silbermann organ when it was new in 1735 -- pieces by Scheidt, Bruhns, Telemann, and JS Bach.
The church has the most perfect 7 second reverberation I have ever heard. The glorious sounds of the final E-Flat chord of Bach's St. Anne fugue simply drifted into space filling every inch of this awesome church.
An amazing conclusion to our
2012 performance tour!
The German Bach and Sons
Premiers in Austria
Jeannine and David Jordan
The Stadtpfarrkirche Sts. Peter und Paul of Ried, Austria was the stunning location for the world premier of our German production of Bach and Sons. This Baroque church with its famous Schwanthaler altar, ornate decoration, and fine Mathis organ was the perfect complement to the music and story of Johann Sebastian Bach and his family.
We presented Bach and Sons as part of the Ried "inn4tler sommer" cultural festival--a series of concerts, theater, and art events held throughout the Upper Austria region during the summer months. Renate Pumberger, organist of the Stadtpfarrkirche, and Bernhard Schneider, conductor of the Kantorei der Stadtpfarre Ried, were our enthusiastic and generous hosts for the event.
Thanks to the expert translation of the show's narration to German and patient coaching by German professor Ulla Mundill, I was able to present the story of JS Bach and his family as told by the women in their lives in German.
With the story told in German, the stunning visuals, the live camera projections to a superb screen, and the incredible organ music soaring through the Baroque church, the audience was spellbound and in awe of our world premier presentation of our German Bach and Sons performance. It was a thrilling day for us!
*****
To discover more of Bach and Sons
please visit our new website at
www.bachandsons.com
To schedule a performance of Bach and Sons
in your community,
please contact Jeannine at
jeannine@bachandsons.com
The Salzburg Sojourn
Jeannine and David Jordan
Following our Bach and Sons performance in Ried, we were entertained for two lovely days in the music city of Salzburg, Austria by Hildegund Walterskirchen, music history and English literature professor at the University of Portland Salzburg Center, and her husband, Dr. Gerhard Walterskirchen, musicologist and author of Salzburger Musikgeschichte. Lively conversationalists and tremendous hosts, the Walterskirchens shared their love of Salzburg with us.
The highlight of our visit was hearing a superbly performed Michael Haydn Mass at St. Peter's Church during a Sunday morning worship service. The space seemed to come alive as the music floated through this gorgeous Baroque church.
The Wittenberg Week
Jeannine and David Jordan
Our performance tour continued in the city of Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany. To quote the travel brochures: This sleepy little town in rural eastern Germany doesn't look like the center of a revolution. But the events that played out here in the 16th Century shook the foundations of Christendom.
It was here in Wittenberg, Germany, that Martin Luther lived and preached, and on October 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church. The Protestant Reformation had begun.
Wittenberg is in the midst of a decade long celebration to commemorate Luther's bold act which started the Reformation. This year, 2012, the theme of the celebration is "Reformation and Music." The theme was chosen not only be a musical tribute to the eloquent poet and reformer Luther, but also a reminder of the rich treasure of Protestant church music. With that theme in mind, I chose to design the programs I played in Wittenberg around the texts and hymn tunes of Martin Luther.
The first of two concerts in Wittenberg was played on the Ladegast organ at the Schlosskirche (the church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door). Ringing the tower of the Schlosskirche high above the city are the words to Luther's most famous hymn, "Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott." It is with this hymn tune that I framed the concert with settings by Jan Bender and Max Reger. Completing the concert were contemporary settings of other Luther chorales.
The second concert of the week was performed at the Stadtkirche, the church where Luther often preached, was married, and his children were baptized. Playing the Sauer organ, I continued the theme of music based on Luther chorales with the Fantasia super Komm Heiliger Geist" by JS Bach as the centerpiece. Chorale settings by other Baroque composers completed the program.
The thrill of performing settings of Luther's chorales in the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche during the Reformation and Music Year of the Luther Decade was enormous.
We stayed in a lovely apartment at the 500 year old University located on the Collegienstrasse--the main walking street through the center of the old city--just minutes away from the Schlosskirche and Stadtkirche. Strolling down this street lined with 16th century pastel colored buildings, eating a gelato, and savoring the ambiance of the city made for an unforgettable week in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
The Many Organs of Bad Belzig
A grand time was had by all in the quaint medieval village of Bad Belzig, Germany. The St. Marienkirche, a Romanesque church from the late 13th century, is the home of a burgeoning organ museum started by the Kantor and Music Director, Winfried Kuntz.
Herr Kuntz has collected five organs to date with three currently playable. Each instrument is distinct in its sound, disposition, action, and beauty.
It was on these three instruments that I played a program of music by JS Bach and his sons--music appropriate for small exquisite organs.
To discover the details of these three gems, please click here to visit our Pro-Motion Music Blog.
The Dornheim Wedding Church
Jeannine and David Jordan
On October 17, 1707, Johann Sebastian Bach married Maria Barbara Bach in a ceremony attended by family and friends in the village church in Dornheim, Germany. Today, St. Bartholomaeusenkirche is better known as the "Bach Wedding Church" and has been lovingly restored by the community.
The program I chose for this concert was a chronological sampling of the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach starting with his earliest pieces and culminating with his great St. Anne Fugue. What a joy to play Bach's music in the church where he Maria Barbara were married over 300 years ago!
Our Side Trips to Wechmar and Erfurt
Our gracious and generous hosts in Dornheim, Jurgen and Rosemarie Frey, made sure that we not only thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Dornheim, but that we also visited the historic village of Wechmar and the lovely city of Erfurt. In Wechmar, we saw the bakery where JS Bach's Great-Great-Grandfather was a baker and a player of the lute. From that time forward for the next 450 years, the name Bach was synonymous with the word musician.
The Veit Bach Museum in Wechmar
Jurgen Frey ed us on a marvelous evening walking tour of the historic city of Erfurt . With its medieval city center. towering spires of the Mariendom and Severikirche, the Kraemerbruecke of 1325, and the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther lived in 1505, it was a memory-making evening.
The organ of the Severikirche The Kraemerbruecke
A Silbermann Organ in Freiberg
The St. Petrikirche in Freiberg is the home to one of four surviving organs in the city by master organ builder, Gottfried Silbermann. This magnificent organ, built in 1735, was completely restored to Silbermann specifications in 2007.
The music I chose to perform on this concert was music that actually could have been played on this Silbermann organ when it was new in 1735 -- pieces by Scheidt, Bruhns, Telemann, and JS Bach.
The church has the most perfect 7 second reverberation I have ever heard. The glorious sounds of the final E-Flat chord of Bach's St. Anne fugue simply drifted into space filling every inch of this awesome church.
An amazing conclusion to our
2012 performance tour!